“LONDON (Reuters) – The world economy should perform slightly better this year because recovering growth in Asia will gradually overpower the political and economic malaise in the West, according to Reuters polls.
The latest surveys of more than 600 economists worldwide, released on Wednesday, showed global economic growth is likely to hit 3.3 percent this year following an expected 3.1 percent growth in 2012 – a slight cut to forecasts from a poll three months ago.
The outlook for this year hinges to a certain extent on whether emerging economies such as China and Brazil finally deliver the upturn that many economists had expected in 2012.
The main threats to the stability of the world economy lie in Europe and the United States, and they have a now-familiar ring to them.
U.S. politicians must again strike a deal in March to avert a potentially severe budget tightening that could stall the world’s No.1 economy, and the global engine with it.
And recession-hit Europe will still drag on its main trading partners for as long as the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis smolders.
“Our expectation is that it could be a little better than last year globally, but not much,” said Andrew Brigden, chief economist at Fathom Financial Consulting in London.
But there are some reasons for optimism.
“The U.S. will slow, but certainly avoid a recession, we would hope. Most other places will improve slightly…”
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